CD Projekt’s Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, codenamed Challenge Orion, is a carefully guarded secret, however that hasn’t stopped Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith from teasing some beforehand unknown particulars.
Pondsmith, who labored carefully with CD Projekt on the 30 million-selling Cyberpunk 2077 and was concerned in selling the sport forward of its 2020 launch, was requested in regards to the scope of his involvement with Challenge Orion on the Digital Dragons 2025 convention.
Responding, Pondsmith admitted he wasn’t as concerned this time round, however he does assessment scripts and had been to CD Projekt to take a look at the continuing work.
“Final week I used to be wandering round speaking to completely different departments, and seeing what they’d, ‘Oh look, that is the brand new cyberware, what do you suppose?’ ‘Oh yeah, that’s fairly good, that works right here.’ “
After which, the morsel of element on the sequel: that it incorporates a model new metropolis along with the Evening Metropolis we all know from Cyberpunk 2077. Pondsmith described this new metropolis as “like Chicago gone mistaken.”
“I spent a whole lot of time speaking to one of many atmosphere guys, and he was explaining how the brand new place in Orion, as a result of there’s one other metropolis we go to — I’m not telling you any greater than that however there’s one other metropolis we go to. And Evening Metropolis remains to be there. However I bear in mind it and going, yeah I perceive the texture you’re going for this, and this actually does work. And it doesn’t really feel like Blade Runner, it feels extra like Chicago gone mistaken. I mentioned, ‘Yeah, I can see this working.”
It’s value mentioning right here that Pondsmith’s feedback don’t essentially counsel the Cyberpunk sequel will characteristic a future Chicago, relatively a metropolis that has the texture of a dystopian model of the town. It could be a tackle future Chicago, however that isn’t confirmed primarily based on these feedback.
There may be additionally already some debate about whether or not the Cyberpunk sequel will increase upon the Evening Metropolis that’s in Cyberpunk 2077 or characteristic a brand new model, and the extent to which it’s playable. There are a whole lot of unknowns, however it seems to be like there could also be two fleshed out playable cities on this sequel.
Whereas CD Projekt’s focus proper now could be The Witcher 4, it has a brand new studio arrange in Boston to work on Challenge Orion. Earlier this 12 months, CD Projekt mentioned 84 of its 707 workers had been engaged on Challenge Orion, which remains to be within the idea part. A lot can change, and we’re not anticipating the sport for a while.
There’s additionally a brand new Cyberpunk animation challenge on Netflix following the well-received Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Within the shorter time period, Cyberpunk 2077 is ready to launch on Nintendo Swap 2.
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You’ll be able to attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
